Major Win Leads to Flurry of Distractions in Danielle Kang’s Bid for Another

Since she birdied the final hole for a one-stroke victory over the defending champion Brooke Henderson at Olympia Fields to win the second major of the year, Kang has been receiving about 700 messages a day on her phone and via social media platforms, she said. At first, she tried to reply to every message, but she quickly fell into keystroke quicksand.

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Wie, left, rushed to meet Kang at the 10th tee to begin their round at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J.Credit
Doug Mills/The New York Times

In desperation, she handed her phone to her mother at the beginning of this week so she would have several hundred fewer distractions.

Annika Sorenstam, a retired 10-time major winner, reached out to Kang the old-fashioned way — by tracking her down in the clubhouse — to offer her congratulations. She threw in some advice on how to handle the attention that can engulf a first-time major winner.

Kang said Sorenstam had told her to carve out time for news media obligations but also to make time for herself. Kang, a California…